Thursday, December 30, 2010

When The Globe and Mail posts a Toronto FC coaching rumour, I pay attention. They are joining the chorus of speculation concerning Paul Mariner. Mariner is the long time assistant to Steve Nicol with the New England Revolution. He left New England for a coaching gig with Plymouth Argyle, but that has not gone well.
There is also news from Sportsnet's Gerry Dobson (his twitter account) that speculates that Steve Nicol is part of the hiring deal. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

This is a mess.
First Earl Cochrane denies that DeRo will trial with Celtic.
Then photos of DeRo in Scotland show up.
Then TFC/Cochrane say they had no idea that DeRo was going over for a trial.
How can a player under contract shop himself around like this? How can a player, the captain of your team, go overseas without permission? What happens if he gets injured in a scrimmage? What is going on?

Friday, December 3, 2010

The Globe and Mail are reporting that TFC has not renewed the contracts of three more players ;
Nick Garcia, Fuad Ibrahim and Amadou Sanyang. The only surprise might be Sanyang, due to his youth and playing experience. Sanyang was hardly a salary concern, although that might be the case for Ibrahim. We fans have to trust that letting a young player go is based on either draft or academy prospects.
Garcia's years in the league means that he is eligible for the re-entry draft. Since the two young players have no right to negotiate with any other club besides Toronto, I am not sure what the next step will be.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Toronto FC traded again today. They sent Nane, the rookie midfielder, to Colorado. I don't know what to make of this. I was impressed enough with Nane that I thought he would stay on as a bench player. Clearly Colorado was impressed enough to trade for him. Only 22, so there is potentially room for growth.

The 2011 roster is increasing to a maximum of 30 players and Toronto seems to be shrinking. My roster memory goes like this...

3 keepers (Frei, Conway, Kocic)

7 defenders (Attakora, Cann, Harden, Gomez, Gargan, Garcia, Henry)

6 midfielders (DeRo, JDG, Sturgis, Labrocca, Peterson, Sanyang

3 strikers (Santos, Chad, Ibrahim)

That seems to be 19 players. There will be 5 players chosen by Toronto in the college draft. I am not sure of how many will be taken in the re-entry draft. How will TFC get to 30?